If you're a Lefty like us, the Democrats are not your friends

The dogs that stopped barking

By Michael J. Smith on Thursday November 22, 2007 11:41 AM

Meant to post something about this story back when it first appeared, but maybe it's still worth chewing on:

As the congressional session lurches toward a close, Democrats are confronting some demoralizing arithmetic on Iraq.... the only war legislation enacted during this Congress has been to give the president exactly what he wants, and exactly what he has had for the past five years: more money, with no limitations.

...[P]ublic opinion about the war — while still dominated by opposition to a military adventure most people think was a mistake — has risen modestly in recent weeks, according to several nonpartisan polls....

The changing views probably have little to do with Congress, said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“You have also had the near absence of the war coverage in the last months, and since the coverage is generally negative, the less coverage, the less negative communications that reaches people’s living rooms.”

Pew reported Friday that only 16 percent of Americans name the Iraq war as the news story that first comes to mind today — a huge shift.

... Meanwhile, both sides must contemplate the most dispiriting piece of Iraq arithmetic of all.

At the start of the year, there had been 3,003 U.S. military casualties in Iraq.

Now there have been 3,860 — already making this the deadliest year of the five-year military campaign.

So... why has the war story suddenly dropped off the media radar? Is it conceivably because... the Congressional campaign is over, and the Presidential camapigns are avoiding the topic?

I think it was Richard Pryor, back in the days when the poor man was funny, who had a routine about a man and woman in bed. The man, erm, reaches fulfilment quickly and leaves his partner, erm, high and dry. She expresses frustration, and he responds smugly, "I got mine, you get yours."

The Democrats got theirs a year ago by exploiting and, to some extent, encouraging public dissatisfaction with the war. But now it's steady as she goes, don't rock the boat, don't put Hillrack on the spot. The Republicans are so bollixed that victory in '08 for the Dems appears to be merely a question of not fucking up. The last thing they want now is a public het up about a war they intend to continue.

I wonder how many people type "Rodham" in response to the spam prevention measure.

As for the "election" of the next CEO, Giuliani will win and make Bush look like Carter.

After we lose another American city -- Atlanta to drought after New Orleans to flood -- and the all too important price at the pump breaks the 4 dollar ceiling (sometime early next year, perhaps by April) "we the people" -- fueled by furious frustration and an infinite supply of denial -- will be clamoring for the "good old days" like never before: Rudy is uniquely skilled and qualified to meet that exact brand of dangerously clueless desperation.

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on Thursday November 22, 2007 11:41 AM.